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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

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Retro Film Review: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)@drax641d

(source: tmdb.org)

The author of this review lives in the part of the world where robbers, rapists and psychopathic mass murderers , when political, economic and cultural circumstances align in that direction, may be given the status of national heroes and moral exemplars. One, however, can take some sort of comfort in the fact that this phenomenon isn’t limited to this area and that can be found even in seemingly more progressive and civilised countries. One of those is provided Jesse James (1847 – 1882), man whose conduct during US Civil War was such that, if repeated today, could have lead to Hague courthouse, and it was followed by long career of outlaw; specific combination of political circumstances following the Civil War turned him into a national hero. The heroic fame surrounding James is perhaps most deservedly attributed to the manner of his demise, which is the subject of the 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The film, based on a 1983 novel by Ron Hansen, begins its narrative in the autumn of 1881. Jesse James (played by Pitt) has spent the previous decade under the banner of continuing the Civil War by other means, specifically fighting against the despised Northerners through bloody bank and train robberies, becoming America's most wanted outlaw and a hero to the defeated Southerners. Although he managed to evade authorities, Pitt finds himself without his most loyal friends or associates—all either dead or imprisoned—forcing him to fill his gang with young, inexperienced recruits, including 19-year-old Robert Ford (played by Casey Affleck). The young man is captivated by James and obsessed with the idea that he will become a famous outlaw in his company. However, as time passes, it becomes increasingly clear that this will not happen, leading Ford to conclude that he can secure a place in history in a different way.

Although many Hollywood filmmakers have addressed this theme in one way or another, The Assassination of Jesse James was meant to be another great Western and an example of how contemporary Hollywood can still produce quality examples of that genre. Ridley Scott served as producer for the project, which boasted an impressive cast. Brad Pitt's portrayal of the paranoid psychopath showcased his exceptional acting talent after a long time away from such roles, reminding the public that he was more than just Angelina Jolie's husband. Young Casey Affleck also delivered a masterful performance as a complex character, with supporting actors like Paul Schneider as the outlaw seducer Dick Little and former Clinton campaign strategist James Carville as Governor Crittenden making notable contributions. The melancholic atmosphere reminiscent of revisionist Westerns from the early 1970s was enhanced by Roger Deakins' brilliant cinematography.

Unfortunately, a key figure in the entire project fell short—New Zealand director Andrew Dominik. Given that his previous film Chopper—a disturbing yet fascinating adaptation of Australian criminal Mark Brandon Read's autobiography—had a similar theme, one could assume that The Assassination of Jesse James would be a hit. However, this did not happen because Dominik took his source material too seriously. Viewers cannot doubt for a moment that this is an adaptation of literary work—the narration by Hugh Ross constantly delves into trivial details while suddenly shifting focus onto secondary characters halfway through the film.

Such digressions—acceptable in literary media—consume valuable screen time, leaving little room to explain why the film's 'hero' did what he did and even less for what should have been perhaps the most fascinating aspect—the life of Robert Ford after James' assassination and how media and popular legends interpreted that act differently than he had hoped. While watchable, this film demands much patience from average viewers who would find Western concepts more palatable in titles like 3:10 to Yuma.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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3 more reviews

›REVIEW : "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (2007) - Movie by Andrew Dominik@mandibil2437d
A revisionist western (or otherwise known as "post western") is a genre that has been sort of revived in later years (think True Grit, The Revenant a.o.). But of this modern stock one of them sort of stands out. It is not in the sense that the revision as such is any different in "The asssassination of Jesse James...", rather that it does not try to manipulate you into an ethical judgement during its runtime. Ususally the "morality" is spelled out in the plot structure or the way the characters are introduced. Not so much here.

Jesse James (and his gang) is probably the most famous of the famous outlaws of the "old west". Not least because of the circumstances in which his life was ended. His "companion" Robert Ford shot him in the back in his own home, and this has become a sort of legendary "heroic" tale, that almost inevitably leads to sympathy for Jesse James, rather than Ford, his bane. The movie does try and wrestle a bit with these preconceptions and in my opinion is its only justification.

The plot follows a basic search through wikipedia I would presume and I will not try and plot it out for you here. The director goes to great lengths as far as I can tell to make sure that specific historical details are correct and that any kind of sentimetalism is removed so that we do get a chance to get under the skin of all the implicits.

The cinematography is basically spotless, but it has the "modern" faded colours or even crushed blacks that tend to annoy me as I always feel it is a lack of trust in your ability to let it look "natural" to darken or fade it.

It took me a good deal of time to get engaged in the story as I basically knew where it had to lead and I did not really connect with any of the characters, except for Ford, brilliantly and quirkily played by Casey Affleck. And I might add that once again I am annoyed by Brad Pitt, who just does not have the ability to play a role like this with any depth. He is just a pretty face that sells tickets. The acting contrast between Affleck and Pitt is gigantic.

Most of the supporting actors are fine, but sort of forgettable. The sole point of this movie is to try and understand how a personality like that of Ford´s actually work. And that I think the movie does a pretty decent job at.

I really feel that same uneasiness around this gang of psychopaths that Robert Ford has idolized since his youth that is portrayed in Ford. He is himself a sort of psychopath himself, but he does have softer sides to him that is explored. He keeps a chest of pulp magazines glorifying the life of the James Gang and their leader. In the old days there weren´t that much of a heroic kind of lifespan when you had to survive in the frontier on your own as a farmer or such. The only other possibility was to become a criminal of some kind and this is what the substory of the unconscious of Ford is about.

He just slowly realizes that reality does not match his fantasy at all and his attraction towards the real Jesse James grows from idolizing to wanting to kill him. This is the story of the movie and it does a decent job of holding this through the runtime.

But afterall, I feel quite disappointed with it. I liked Affleck´s performance very much and he really looks lie someone who is completely misplaced in all of this but thinks he can become what he isn´t while attempting to lie to himself about the quality of his idol.

The rest is just sort of filler in order to tell the story and it is sort of thin. The realism though is very much there, like gunshots that sound weird, because they actually sound realistic or fistfights that actually sound like knuckles hitting skin and so on. This is a rare opportunity to experience and it must be recommended for that. But from an overall point of view it ends up being a mediocre movie that in many ways seem quite pointless (except for the few aspects I have pointed out)

6/10

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›The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Movie Review@coldsteem3089d

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. When Andrew Dominik created his screenplay from Ron Hansen's novel of the same name, it appears he tried to match the flavor of the film with the title of the book. Bloated, awkward, pretentious and meandering.

If you have been so sheltered that you have never heard of Jesse James, I will summarize his life in a nutshell. He was a ruthless killer and thief who became an American icon for his exploits. Why Jesse James (who could shoot a man in the back) would be considered a hero, while his killer was viewed as a coward, seems like a paradox to me. But such is life. I guess it all comes down to marketing. This incarnation of the Jesse James story takes a cerebral, psychological look at the man and his acquaintances.

TAOJJBTCRF(for short), begins with Jesse and Frank's last train job. Most of their original crew has been killed or arrested. Using some distant family members and several local men, the brothers rob a train that was supposed to be loaded with much more money. After the job, Jesse tries to blend back into a sense of normalcy under an assumed name. But his fear of Pinkerton's men, police and his own associates has put him on edge. This suspicion creates the rare tension that is interspersed with long droughts of poor pacing. The dialogue was rich, but sometimes difficult to understand. The characters seemed one-dimensional.

The worst dialogue came from Casey Affleck, who played Robert Ford. Affleck is difficult to understand, and I just didn't care for him. The film was already boring enough without him causing me to further lose interest. This was probably one of Pitt's (Jesse James) worst films. While Pitt wasn't bad, the role wasted his talent. The cast did not have much to work with here.

TAOJJBTCRF won't likely draw many younger viewers, who will quickly become bored anyway. The R rating could have been a PG-13 if the violence had been a little bit less graphic. There was enough blood and killing to push this one past the imaginary line the MPAA has drawn. There was some strong language and a few sexual references and situations, but not much in adult themes. The rating seemed most closely tied to the violence. Teenagers and above is a safe bet.

I wanted to like TAOJJBTCRF. The concept appealed to me, but the execution seemed overdone. The extensive stretches of slow pacing made the film feel tedious at times. While it was meant to examine the psychological aspects of the subject matter, it was simply too long and too slow. They could easily have done this film in under two hours, clipping forty minutes from the ridiculous run-time. In that amount of time, you might figure we would get extensive character development rather than stick figures. I was sorely disappointed. 4.5/10.

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›Andrew Dominik's 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' Review@namiks3218d

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has a Shakespearean feeling to it. It shows Jesse James as a man fully aware of his limited time left to live due to his former actions as a criminal, robbing and murdering with his gang.

Jesse James is aware of his mortality, and aware of the increasing chances of a gang member selling him out for a large reward as bounties arise with his name on them. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a duel between man and mind, though. Jesse James knows he has pushed himself into a corner that he cannot escape. The rising army of Sheriffs and bounty hunters have him pinned against his own thoughts.

Robert Ford is an obsessive fan of Jesse James, but he is also rather cowardly; he's utterly fascinated by Jesse James, lacking the emotional instability of a criminal to really follow his ways. Jesse James grooms Ford in, enforcing his obsession with him, ultimately persuading him to be his killer.

Ford takes the celebrity role of Jesse James. being famously known as the one who killed the legendary Jesse James, allowing his name to live on. The true coward's way out. Ford is later murdered by Edward O'Kelley in his saloon for his killing of Jesse James.

I enjoy the film's view of a criminal that doesn't just see the lawmen as a threat to his ways; it focuses on the psychological trauma that comes with being the leader of a well-known gang. The assumption that any person could turn their backs against his at any time, leading to his inevitable and not-so-legend-like capture and execution. Jesse James neither wants to die, or be captured like another mediocre criminal that thought they were above the law.

With a young Casey Affleck accompanied by Brad Pitt, the two lead performances ensure suspense, thrills, and the feeling of loss.

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